For the past few years, I’ve been posting little photo/drawing pairings on Instagram, inspired by pareidolia—those moments when your brain insists that a wall socket is giving you the side-eye or an empty backpack is definitely a cranky old man. At first, Seeing Things was just a fun way to break out of my usual fact-based cartoonist practice and let my brain wander in a more whimsical direction. But once I started, I couldn’t stop. Faces were everywhere.
What started as a personal creative detour turned into something more communal. I began posting the photo/drawing pairs online, and people really seemed to enjoy them—they even started sending me their own “sightings.” I love that part—though I tend to avoid the obvious ones where the photo tells the whole story. For me, the fun is in teasing out the mood or character I think I see, figuring out which lines are essential and which can be left out. It became a kind of game.
And so this zine was born.
SEEING THINGS is a 32-page collection of those moments—photos from my everyday life, each matched with a hand-drawn reinterpretation that brings out the face, vibe, or unexpected personality hiding inside. It’s a celebration of noticing, of seeing the familiar in unfamiliar ways, and of assigning humanity to objects that definitely didn’t ask for it. Expect expressive machines, moody fixtures, startled containers—a whole cast of found characters. Some pages are themed: one spread might feature a lineup of expressive kids’ bike seats, another might spotlight shocked gym equipment. Many drawings include comics elements like word balloons or sound effects, and—perhaps unsurprisingly—the zine features an unusual number of ghosts, vampires, ogres, and other creatures that don’t usually haunt my work.
I’m honored to include in SEEING THINGS a foreword by Rob Walker (Titans of Finance; The Art of Noticing). Here’s a sample from his intro:
Like any skilled artist or writer, Josh Neufeld pays attention to the world around him. He is aware of what is there. But he also sees what isn’t there—but possibly could be. As a maker of comix, he is a skilled artist and writer, and he doesn’t so much “see faces” as recognize and express a certain humanity in the inanimate. Collected, the results are really remarkable, funny, revealing…. Shared pareidolia is actually a little risky: sometimes I see a face, and you just don’t. In Seeing Things, Josh takes those risks in a disarming way that’s inspiring. When you do see the face that Josh sees, the result is a kind of quiet connection. That’s the game, and the more you play along, the more you win.
If you’re looking for a playful little reminder to look twice at the world around you, SEEING THINGS might be your thing. It’s color, digest-sized, 32 pages, and $5. You can Venmo me $6 directly (the $1 extra is for shipping); or—if you order it from my site, I’ve knocked it down to just $3 (plus $3 flat-rate shipping). A bargain for anyone who’s ever made eye contact with a parking meter!
Below are some samples spreads from the zine:
